Protector's Code
by heavenly.rook
Summary: Pokemon trainer, Amber, is a professional "Protector" of pokémon and is perfect, as far as Oak is concerned. She meets and deals with pokémon daily, and being Crystal's twin sister has put her in Oak's "good book". How will Amber do as a new pokédex trainer? Will she meet or disappoint the Professor's expectations?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Professor Oak sank his head into his hands as he reviewed the photographs spread across his desk. New Pokémon had appeared and his most trusted pokédex holder, Crystal had only recently completed her pokédex. It pained him, but he really couldn't make her go out again so soon into her long-deserved break to collect data for him again. He'd asked his fellow colleague, Professor Birch from the Hoenn, to distribute the three pokédex to three trainers he personally deemed "worthy" and for the time being, that would get his research going into a slow crawl. However, a lot of these Pokémon were appearing in the Johto region now as well.

With spare parts left over from the three pokédex for his Johto trainers, he'd managed to make a fourth, but it lay useless and neglected with no trainer for it to register to. Professor Oak had tried to do the fieldwork for himself, but the years had caught up without him noticing, and he just wasn't the same notorious trainer he used to be.

Oak groaned loudly and thumped his head against his desk. Ouch. That had hurt a lot more than he'd expected.

"What's the matter, Professor?" a voice startled him into a straightened seating position. Beside him stood his most trustworthy dex-holder, Crystal, with her head cocked to one side, looking down on him in concern. Her dark hair had a bluish-hue to it and was evenly spread into two twin tails. She wore a white lab coat over an orange top and a yellow skirt, but he knew that the coat and the skirt were only disguises to her field outfit underneath.

"Professor?" she repeated, snapping him again out of his thoughts.

"It's nothing, Chris. Nothing to worry about," he sighed, desperately avoiding the anxious emotion reflected from her pale, blue eyes.

"Are you certain?" she asked, her voice soft and coaxing.

"It's just my research," he groaned, unable to avoid the understanding and motherly aura that she seemed to emit. "New Pokémon have been sighted across both Kanto and Johto that have only ever been seen in Hoenn. I'd like to send one of my pokédex holders out to gather data for me, but none of them will have a bar of it, or they'll take forever."

"Oh, that's simple," said Crystal, her eyes lighting up. "I'll just go out again."

"No, stop," commanded Oak as she turned away to throw off her lab coat. "You're on your break, so I can't let you. I've made a new pokédex, but I really can't find anyone good enough for it. I can't seem to find enough potential in the trainers these days."

He sighed, remembering that Red, Blue, Yellow and Crystal were the only real trainers he'd entrusted the pokédex to. The others had either stolen them from him or had conned him into giving it up. That really didn't say much good for this generation of trainers.

"I see," Crystal said thoughtfully. There was a moment's silence then she snapped her finger in triumph. "I have an idea Professor. I know a good person for the job!"

"Really?" the comment took him surprise, enough to brighten his aged face and to let hope spread throughout his features.

"Yes," she responded with a smile. "I have a twin sister. She's very professional and encounters numerous Pokémon daily. She doesn't have to go out looking for Pokémon, as they're generally attracted to her. So collecting data for you won't be out of her way."

"Really," the Professor repeated with amazement. This girl sounded perfect; another trainer with the same attitude as Crystal, how could he not be interested? "Tell me more about her."

Crystal's grin broadened at the eagerness in his voice. "Her name is Amber and we used to train together before we set out on our separate journeys. I haven't seen her in a while, but I have no doubt that she'll be willing to help if you ask her. She also has a very unique and special ability that you look for in trainers."

Better and better, thought Professor Oak and he nodded along. All his chosen trainers, despite their many shortcomings, each had a gift that separated them from normal trainers. Crystal specialized in catching Pokémon, Red specialized in battling Pokémon, and his beloved grandson, Blue, specialized in training Pokémon.

"She's a Pokémon **"Protector"**," continued Crystal. "She protects Pokémon and humans from aggressive Pokémon, and Pokémon from abusive trainers. Because of this, she emits alpha-like waves that allow both people and Pokémon to trust her with their safety, even if they don't really know her. And because of her job, she undoubtedly meets a lot of Pokémon. Additionally, I can vouch for her 100% proficiency, so there's no need to worry that she wouldn't get the job done!"

As continued to speak of her sister's greatness, clearly proud of her, Professor Oak slowly tuned out. He couldn't believe that such a trainer was out there. After Gold and Silver, he'd believed that finding more than one trainer of great potential would be difficult in the same generation. Anything more than one would be nothing short of a miracle. After all, the finding of Yellow was most definitely a miracle. Maybe, just maybe this was the breakthrough he'd been wishing for…

But then he came to a realization that dimmed all his yearnings.

"What's wrong," asked Crystal, breaking her campaigning when she'd noticed the sudden change in his facial features.

"I don't have a starter Pokémon for her," he sighed. "With the exception of Yellow, all my pokédex holders have had a Pokémon that I've entrusted to them along with the pokédex. And Yellow is a very easygoing character. I doubt Amber will be the same sort…"

"No, she isn't," confirmed Crystal thoughtfully. "But I don't think it would matter. After all, she's like me. She probably already has a full team of Pokémon. I would never have accepted Mega if you gave her to me. I only did because she passed my test. So I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

"Is that so," said Oak. He breathed a sigh of relief, but still in the back of his mind, the thought lingered. "Then I'll just prepare the new pokédex and send someone to find her."

"Would you like me to go?" she asked, peering over his shoulder as he swept his desk free of the photographs and pulling the new pokédex from his drawers. The pokédex was identical to the ones the Johto trio had. His thought had been to make the Johto trio a quad.

"No, no," replied Oak, shocked that she'd even made the suggestion. "I'll send Gold and Silver to look for her. Those two are the only ones with nothing better to do."

"I get that Red and Blue are training and that Yellow is spending the weekend with her uncle, but what about Green?" frowned Crystal.

"Ehm..." muttered Oak. "Well, she's always been a hard one to deal with…"

"I see," she laughed in understanding. "Well, I don't know where Amber is, so I can't clue you on that, but it shouldn't be hard to notice her. After all, she looks pretty much exactly like me!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Okay, so who are we looking for again?" asked Gold before stretching his arms above his head and letting out a blatant yawn.

"Crystal," replied his best friend and archrival, Silver. "Or a girl that looks like her, but isn't her."

"Seriously?" responded Gold, shooting a glare at him. "We're looking for her twin sister."

"If you knew, you shouldn't have asked," he replied calmly.

Gold groaned loudly and turned to his Aipom. "Ataro, where did I put that picture of her again? And what was her name? Amy, right?"

"Why do you need her picture?" asked Silver, genuinely puzzled. "She's Chris's twin sister. They should look exactly alike."

"Not all twins look exactly the same, Silver," replied Gold, rolling his eyes. "And I remember that she was a bit different from Chris…damn it Ataro where is it?"

His partner Pokémon looked innocently up at him and then scuttled up his body to perch on his shoulder. Grasped in the three-fingered hand at the end of his tail, the Long Tail Pokémon stretched out to reveal a picture of the soon-to-be pokédex holder.

"See?" said Gold, waving the picture in Silver's face with triumph. "They aren't completely alike."

Silver squinted at the picture, with his Sneasel peering over from his shoulder. It took him moments, but he soon identified the difference. Like Crystal, the trainer had dark hair, but didn't have the same bluish-hue that she had. Instead, her hair was slightly browner. The next and only other difference Silver noticed was that the trainer's eyes had a sharp and amber shade in contrast to Crystal's icy and pale blue.

"You're right," he finally conceded and pulled away from the picture. "And her name isn't Amy. It's Amber."

"If you'd known before, you coulda said so," grumbled Gold before stuffing the picture into his jacket pockets. Admittedly, Silver had forgotten the trainer's name as well, but the shade of her eyes had jolted his memory. But Gold had no need to know that… "So where are we starting anyway?"

Before Silver could reply, Gold's Pichu suddenly shot out from his pokéball. The two boys exclaimed in surprise. Pichu didn't even allow for any time for reaction, as he sprinted away from them as if he'd seen something incredibly interesting.

"Pichu!" yelled Gold, before hurdling off after him. "What's the matter?"

"Wait a second, Gold," started Silver, but cut off when he realized that he had already made it far from hearing range. Sighing, he began sprinting after the two as they entered Viridian Forest. "That idiot…"

Amber flopped down under a great oak tree with a heavy sigh. Finally, some rest. The last few days had been hectic. For some reason, a flock of Spearow had passed the forest and had caused a huge uproar to the ecology. They'd specifically targeted smaller and weaker Pokémon in large groups. It wasn't for any particular reason either. They didn't do it out of revenge or defense, it seemed all out of spite and malice. As a "Protector" of Pokémon, Amber had made the strange occurrences her business, flittering from location to location to chase away the random Spearow attacks.

By now, most of the Spearow had figured out that she was a force to be reckoned with, but she was still on alert. It was precisely for this reason that when a sudden and desperate cry nearby from a Pokémon shriek, that Amber was almost immediately on her feet.

"Mister, let's go!" she shouted, releasing her Misdreavus from his pokéball and racing off in the direction of the cry. As she ran, she released the rest of her Pokémon: Veevee the Umbreon, Nix the Onix, Rillri the Marill and Gligie the Gligar.

"Nix, use dig and get ahead of us," she commanded. "Veevee, Gligie, get ahead as well, but none of you are to attack without my command. Review the situation and if it gets out of hand, use the Defense Formation we always go with. Mister and Rillri, stick close to me."

Her team let out their battle cries before carrying out her orders. The ground rumbled as Nix tunneled underground; Veevee disappeared into a black streak within seconds; and Gligie swung above using his tail as leverage against the branches. When Amber, along with Mister and Rillri, reached the clearing where the Pokémon cry had originated from, she met up with Veevee. She didn't need to look up to see that Gligie was perched somewhere in the trees above, nor did she need to stop and press her ear against the earth to be sure that Nix was just under the center of the clearing.

Amber swept her eyes over the situation and quickly took mental notes. The clearing was packed with more Spearows than she'd seen in the past few days. Most likely, the Spearow were beginning to leave the forest, but had then spotted their last and final victim for their visit: a Pichu.

"What's with weird Pokémon popping up in this forest?" groaned Amber. First Spearow, and now a Pichu? Both these Pokémon weren't locals to Viridian Forest. Shaking her head in disbelief, she then left the coverage of the underbrush. "Okay Gligie, use X-Scissor!"

Her voice startled the Tiny Bird Pokémon, but their reactions weren't quick enough as Gligie swooped from the canopy above, slashing multiple Pokémon at once. Amber quickly gestured to Veevee, and the Umbreon rushed forward, weaving through the fray to get to the Pichu. When she reached the tiny, yellow Pokémon, she created a barrier using "Light Screen" and stood on stand-by, waiting for further instructions.

"Okay, good work, Veevee," shouted Amber over the Pokémon screeches. She ducked as a Spearow aimed a "Fury Attack" at her. "Gligie, keep it up! Try to wipe out as many as you can!"

Already were the Spearow beginning to retaliate. They kicked up the sand and used other stat decreasing moves like "Leer" and "Growl". Some higher leveled Spearow countered with "Fury Attack" and "Aerial Ace". Though the attacks had little effect on Gligie, their numbers were beginning to overwhelm him. Some were starting to head for Veevee and the Pichu, attempting to thwart the "Light Screen". Vaguely, Amber noticed several Spearow take flight, but left them, as she didn't have the time or free members to deal with those who fled.

"Okay, Rillri, go support Veevee with your "Defense Curl" if any Spearow get too close," she announced without taking her eyes away from the scene. "Mister, use Shadow Ball and Psychic to back Gligie up." When the two Pokémon left as reinforcement she raised her hand and screamed, "Okay Nix! You're up!"

An uproarious rumble resounded across the clearing and the ground split as Nix made his entrance. He bellowed outrageously, sending numerous Spearow into the skies and then slid to form a reinforced barrier around Veevee and the Pichu with a "Bind" that didn't harm either Pokémon. As the Spearow flew up in panic, they met the awaiting claws of Gligie and the premeditated "Shadow Balls" of Mister.

Finally, the last of the Spearow disappeared from sight and Amber let out a sigh of relief. She quickly did a last assessment of the team, finding that they had all been significantly injured. The flock may have been weak and her team might have overwhelmed them in experience and levels, but they had overwhelmed them in numbers to at least one to ten.

"Good work, everyone," she called out, reaching up to rub Nix's nose. "Very good work."

Nix loosened his "Bind", allowing Veevee and the Pichu to escape his grasp. Amber bent down to scratch Veevee's chin, smiling as the purr vibrated across the Moonlight Pokémon's body. She then turned her attention to the Pichu who was still cowering behind Veevee.

"Hey, scary experience, huh?" said Amber gently, slowly lowering her body to a crouch. "Are you okay?"

The Pichu trembled before letting out a wail and throwing his body into her arms. Amber cooed and hummed, doing her best to sooth the tiny Pokémon. When he finally calmed down, she lifted him up and looked him over.

"Are you from here? You don't look like it. There are plenty of Pikachu that live here, but we don't usually see any Pichu. They're mainly all up in Johto," she said thoughtfully. "I'm from Johto, so I could take you back, but I don't know where you live. I guess I'll take you to the nearest Pokémon center and ask around a bit. Do you have a trainer?"

The Pichu began to make a response but a cry from Mister cut him off. Startled, Amber stood up and whirled around to see Mister looking up at the sky. A sudden shadow fell over the clearing and a stab of premonition shuddered down her spine. She looked up and gasped.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered, feeling a twinge of fear.

Two Fearow circled around the clearing, squawking angrily as the flock of injured Spearow watched from afar. This was bad. Seriously, _seriously_ bad.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so I was a bit discouraged before because I don't seem to have many readers and I was therefore unwilling to update. But I'm in a good mood today and I got my first review (yippee lol) and I made cherry pie, which turned out pretty good. So yeah, I don't update purely for praise but it does boost my confident and I do intend to post the pre-written chapters I have every once a week. **

**\- Heaven**

**Chapter Three**

Cold sweat broke from Amber's brow as she stared up at the two Fearow. They hadn't made their attack yet, and she suspected it was because they wanted her to feel fear before taking her down. This was revenge for their flock. Throughout the week, Amber hadn't heard anything from these two. It would've been good for some heads up…

Amber furiously shook herself and turned to review her Pokémon.

"Okay, so looks like bad news," she said. "But we've been through worse right?"

Her team let out heated cry and grinned in their Pokémon way, waiting for her orders. Amber nodded with determination and held the Pichu in her arms tightly, sending an assuring grin to counter his worried expression.

"Don't worry, little Pichu. We're professional Protectors, so you'll definitely be safe," she said. The Pichu's expression didn't change and he let out a whine as if to say that he was more worried for Amber and her team rather than his own wellbeing. In response to this, Amber laughed lightly and then turned her attention to the Fearow who were still cockily circling above.

"Okay, we're going to focus all on offensive because we don't have much left to lose," she began, knowing that she had her team's full attention. "I'll protect Pichu, so don't worry about that for now. Okay! Nix, use Stone Edge, and Rillri, use Blizzard!"

Seeing that they were starting to make retaliation, the two Fearow raised their beaks and let out a ferocious cry. They raised their wings both at once and sent out a strong "Gust". Amber darted away from the brunt of the attack and ordered her team to dodge as well.

"Okay now, Veevee, use Helping Hand!" she shouted over the wind. "Mister, use Psychic to create an air current for Gligie to ride on. Gligie, use Toxic when you get into range and then use X-Scissor!"

All her Pokémon carried out her orders exactly. Nix and Rillri pushed on with the type advantage and Veevee supported them with her "Helping Hand". Mister let out a burst of psychic energy, creating a suitable current for Gligie to ride on. However, once Gligie got into close proximity, the Fearow he'd targeted suddenly swung around and used "Drill Peck" against him, hitting him square in the centre or his stomach.

"Gligie!" cried Amber, rushing to him as he fell from the sky. When she reached him, she found that he'd fainted and she swung back around in outrage. "Mister! Use Pain Split!"

Mister let out another cry and his body glowed bright silver. He then charged at one of the Fearow, transferring some of the silver to it. The Fearow let out a cry in pain and its wings suddenly failed with the pain, sending it plummeting down.

"Great! Nix, use Stone Edge!" shouted Amber and Nix rushed forward, sending a stream of stones at the falling Fearow. The Fearow straightened itself, but not in time to dodge the "Stone Edge". The stones slashed at the Fearow and it let a final cry before fainting.

"Yes!" cheered Amber, and Pichu let out a relieved cry. "Alright! One down, one to go!"

But she knew things would only get more difficult from here on. The second and final Fearow let out an outraged screech and she winced, doubling over. It suddenly charged down towards the clearing and performed a heavy "Wing Attack" that took out both Veevee and Rillri at once. Pichu screamed in panic, but Amber tried desperately to keep a clear head. None of her Pokémon could take more than one hit, especially not from such a high-level Fearow.

She only had Nix and Mister left. Both were tired and clearly short on breath. Their stats were severely lowered from the Spearow's earlier attacks. She had to admit, it was hard to remain positive in such a dire situation. And then Pichu let out another cry, this time in anger and determination before leaping from Amber's arms.

"Pichu!" cried Amber. "Wait!"

Pichu shot straight up at the Fearow and let out a fierce "Thunderbolt". The attack hit hard and true, sending the Fearow into a panicked frenzy. He then ran up Nix's head and hurdled himself onto the Fearow's back before discharging a "Thundershock".

However, despite the attack, Pichu's level of power was not enough to fully take down the much larger Beak Pokémon. Amber looked around desperately, trying to find any opening that she could make without hitting Pichu.

"Focus on its weak point, Pichu!" a voice suddenly sounded from behind Amber. "And then focus all your might on that single point!"

Pichu complied with the order and then jumped away, leaving the Fearow paralyzed. He landed on Amber's head and let out a definitive cry of victory.

"Alright, good work, Pichu," the voice said enthusiastically. "Now, Ataro, use Swift!"

An Aipom streaked from behind Amber and shot a succession of stars at the weakened Fearow. It let out its last battle cry before finally fainting, leaving the clearing completely void of any sound. Amber stood frozen, staring at the Fearow. Was it over? Was it really over?

"Good work, Ataro," the voice sounded again, jolting Amber away from her amazement.

She turned around the see the sources of the voice, and found two boys standing at the edge of the clearing. The Aipom had returned to a trainer who had a frenzy of spiky black hair with bright golden eyes. He wore an expression of confidence and a red jumper with white pockets accompanied with yellow shorts and extravagant sneakers. Beside him was another boy with long, red hair and steely silver eyes. His face seemed to habitually express exasperation or detachment, which at the moment was the former. He wore a black shirt with red outlines with white pants and black sneakers. Beside him stood a Sneasel that had it's back turned to Amber, but it's head turned towards her.

"Thank you," said Amber, when she finally found her voice. "I was in a lot of trouble there."

"Nah, you would've won in the end," said the spiky-haired boy, grinning and indicating to Nix and Mister who were just about ready to faint.

"We would've taken a severe hit, though," replied Amber, returning her entire team back into their pokéballs, pressing a grateful kiss over Mister's. She then pointed to Pichu who was still perched on her head. "Is this your Pichu?"

"Yep," he said and held out his arm. "Come one, Pichu, you've caused enough trouble for us today."

The Pichu let out a cry of refusal and gripped Amber's head tightly. Amber reached up and pulled the Pichu from her.

"Your trainer is here, aren't you happy?" she asked softly.

Pichu shook his head and held his short yellow arms towards her.

"Huh, would you look at that," the spiky-haired boy said with interest. "He's taken a liking to you. He doesn't usually do that. Do you have any room on your team to keep him?"

"I do," said Amber slowly. "But I don't think it's a good idea to have him come with me. My profession is very dangerous."

"Aw, come on," he said. "Didn't he prove himself to you just then with the Fearow? He'll be even better with a little training."

"Well…" frowned Amber. Pichu stared up at her with pleading eyes and she finally let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine, you'll be called "Peach" from now one then, okay?"

The Pichu let out an excited cheer and eagerly sprung from her grasp to perch on her head. Amber let out a sigh and then a smile, reaching up to tickle his chin.

"Alright, now that that's done, we have somewhere to be," the boy said. "Wait, you wouldn't happen to know this girl right?"

"Gold," the boy beside him said with a sigh of exasperation. "_She's_ who we're looking for."

"What," the spiky-haired boy asked and then did a double-take, staring at the picture he'd pulled out and then back up at Amber. "Seriously? Hey! It's you!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Silver! I found her!" exclaimed Gold, glancing sideways at his partner in triumph.

"I found her," retorted Silver, letting out a groan of exasperation and dropping his face into his palm. Sneasel tugged his trousers sympathetically, whilst Ataro chuckled with amusement.

"What's going on?" asked the female trainer, her expression weary and cautious. She didn't trust them and though Gold had a knack for overlooking these small hints, Silver could see it all too clearly.

She really did look like Crystal, Silver thought. There were obvious differences, such as her lighter, browner hair and her deep amber eyes. Other than that though, she was identical to her twin, or at least as far as the eye could see. They both shared the same height, the same slimness in figure, the same wide eyes and same habitually furrowed brows. And of course, the biggest similarity was their choice in hairstyle, perfectly parted twin tails. While Crystal often wore a small yellow cap, Amber didn't where one, and this wasn't the only difference in fashion.

As far as Silver could see, both the sisters had completely different tastes in clothing, despite the fact that they clearly wore for comfort and mobility. Amber wore a simple outfit comprised with black slacks and a white-buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled to her elbows. Around the shirt's neckline, she had a thin leather tie in a loose knot under an amber stone necklace with golden wings hanging from a long golden chain.

"Well, you're Chris's sister right?" asked Gold.

Amber started at the mention of the name and nodded, with an even more guarded expression. Her response puzzled Silver. Shouldn't she be more eager?

"Alrighty then," said Gold enthusiastically, clearly overlooking her expressions again. "Well you know that she's a pokédex holder right?"

"A poké-what?" frowned Amber, her eyes darkening with suspicion. This answer finally caught Gold by surprise and he glanced over at Silver with unease.

"A pokédex holder," explained Silver. "Professor Oak recruits trainers with potential and gives them a pokédex to help him gather information on Pokémon in the wild. Me and this guy have one too." He held up his pokédex and motioned for Gold to do the same.

"So you're saying Crystal is a pokédex holder too?" she asked, her expression unchanged as she glanced over at the red gadgets. They both nodded and she crossed her arms. "What does that have to do with me?"

It wasn't like they were doing anything wrong, but both Gold and Silver felt discomfort under her cold stare. Wasn't this meant to be an easy task? Give the recruit the pokédex and leave. What was her problem anyway?

"The Professor needs a new trainer to gather information for him and Crystal suggested you as a possible candidate," continued Silver slowly. "She said you encounter Pokémon on a daily basis, so the task shouldn't be so much of a problem for you."

There was a long silence that dragged on for eternity. Gold constantly shifted his weight, his expression clearly baffled by the strange turn in events.

"Crystal," she finally said shortly. "She's a trainer that specializes in capturing Pokémon. In terms of getting information on Pokémon, she's the best. Plus she's devoted to her work. Why are you asking for me?"

"Well, she already caught every Pokémon in the Kanto and Johto region," explained Silver. "So the Professor decided to give her a break."

"And you need a replacement," finished Amber, her tone dark and bitter. "And the best replacement would of course be her twin sister."

"Well, not exactly a replacement," cut in Gold. "Just someone to do the work."

"And why aren't you two doing any work?" asked Amber. "You're both pokédex holders too, right?"

"Yes, but we have other duties to attend to," said Silver, shooting a glare at Gold.

"Right, so what's in it for me?" she asked. "You guys get data on Pokémon and I get, what, the adventure?"

"Sure, why not?" said Gold brightly. "It's fun, meeting Pokémon and such."

"And I can't do that without your pokédex?" she said with a scowl.

Before Gold could open his nonsensical mouth again, Silver pulled him aside. He held his index finger up to Amber in request for timeout.

"Okay, so she's obviously not going to agree with your feeble arguments," said Silver in annoyance. This was meant to be an easy job. Give the girl the pokédex and go back to his normal routine.

"She might?" replied Gold, though Silver could hear the doubt in his voice.

"Let's bribe her," decided Silver, crossing his arms.

"What?" asked Gold, whilst the Aipom on his shoulder looked around with confusion. "With what? We don't have anything to bribe her with."

"I have an idea on that," said Silver and tugged his arm as he walked back towards Amber. "Just trust me, okay?"

"Would it kill you to at least let me in on it?" muttered Gold. Sneasel hurried to catch up with the two of them and leapt in one stride to perch on his trainer's shoulder.

"Done strategizing?" asked Amber with an eyebrow raised. She placed a hand on her hip and set that cold stare on them once more with even higher intensity.

"Sure," replied Silver, shooting one last glance at Gold. He was ignored, of course, but he returned his attention back to Amber. Crystal had started as a pokédex under an ulterior motive: to rebuild a school, or something along those lines. Thinking about it again, none of the current pokédex had joined simply based on the desire for adventure and fun. Heck, even _Gold_ hadn't become a pokédex holder for something like that.

"Well?" said Amber sharply.

"Alright," Silver began, making sure that his eyes remained steadily focused on her, without a shred of uncertainty. "In return for accepting the position as a pokédex holder and doing the work that the professor proposes, I have an idea that might interest you."

Gold fidgeted next to him, constantly shifting his eyes between the trainer on the other side of the clearing and back to his friend beside him.

"You just took a Pokémon that belongs to my friend," said Silver. "Aren't you going to give any sort of repayment?"

"Excuse me?" said Amber, a startled expression replacing the one of indifference. She glanced up at Peach, the new member of her team.

A moment passed before she brought her gaze back down, fixed on Silver. As he'd expected – or hoped – that look of adamancy had now disappeared and she was finally seriously considering their offer.

"I thought you were going to respect Peach's wishes and let him come with me," accused Amber.

"If you hadn't been the one we were looking for, you'd probably have taken the Pichu without any hassle," replied Silver. "But things happen."

Amber frowned, folding her arms with a look of annoyance. Finally, she let out a breath of defeat. "Okay, I agree to becoming a pokédex holder. I don't have much of a choice now do I?"

All the tension in the air that had collected during this exchange finally released and Gold exploded.

"That was the worst possible bribe ever, Silver!" he said in outrage. "What if she didn't agree and refused to give Pichu back? What if she stole him? Hell you saw the way Pichu wanted to be with her, what if _he _refused to let go of her and actually started attacking us? Don't tell me you were prepared to knock him out?"

"Of course not," replied Silver uneasily, holding his hands up as if to calm down a wild beast. "I hadn't actually thought that far ahead."

"I just said I didn't have a choice," Amber cut in. "My whole team has been wiped out and I don't have the power to protect Peach on my own."

Gold growled at Silver but finally turned back to Amber. "Well thank you for agreeing anyway."

"Whatever," she replied and then turned away. "I have to grab my stuff, you can explain that gadget to me on the way."

The two boys hurried to catch up as she exited the clearing and disappeared into the thick undergrowth. Gold drew the new pokédex from his pocket as he pulled up on Amber's left, while Silver flanked her on her right.

"Alright, just press here and the pokédex will register to you," explained Gold. Ataro scuttled up on his head and winked at Peach. His former electric companion giggled. "Once it registers to you, it'll keep track of all the Pokémon you meet and will fill in the data of the ones you capture."

Amber took the pokédex and flipped it open, glancing down at the blank screen. She pressed her finger against a button and the screen suddenly lit up. Peach dropped down on her shoulder to take a closer look.

"Your pokédex is one of the four models that are connected to the Johto pokédex holders," explained Gold. "That means that when it comes in contact with the other three, it'll start making a signal and this light here will start flashing."

He reached over and pointed.

"Gold and I are also Johto holders and the fourth is Chris," said Silver, whilst Gold nodded in confirmation.

"I see," said Amber.

Silver couldn't help noticing the way she withdrew slightly at the mention of her sister's name. It had happened earlier too, but he quickly dismissed it, not wanting to get stuck into more business that would waste his time.

"Okay, we're here," said Amber as they approached a great oak.

She stooped to retrieve a black coat, shaking it free of leaves before swinging it over her shoulders and diving both arms into the sleeves. Quickly brushing the coat of any remaining leaves, she carefully picked up a soft leather case and slipped her pokéballs into the six pockets on the front.

"Right, so we'll see you later then," said Gold with a grin. "But obviously you'll see more of us, now that we're technically comrades-in-arms. The name's Gold."

"I'm Amber," she replied. "Though I expect you already knew that."

"Silver," said Silver.

"Well then, I'll see you later," said Amber, retreating into the forest with a final glance at the two boys before disappearing.


End file.
